Morris Chang founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, known as TSMC, in 1987.
TSMC pioneered the dedicated semiconductor foundry model. Instead of designing chips for its own branded products, it manufactures integrated circuits designed by other companies. This allowed customers to compete in chip design without building and operating their own fabrication plants.
The company became a crucial supplier to firms that design advanced processors, including chips used in smartphones, computers, and artificial-intelligence systems. TSMC’s leading-edge manufacturing has made it strategically important to the global technology industry and a major publicly traded company.
TSMC is often confused with fabless chip designers such as Nvidia or Qualcomm. Nvidia designs important processors but relies on manufacturing partners; TSMC is primarily the manufacturer that fabricates chips for customers.